Boiler-seam protector.



.l. W. GATES.

BOLEB SEAM PROTECTOR.

APPLICAIIGN HLED NOV. 26, 1911.

1,287,954, Patented De0.17,1918.

6/ J O O l /6 A5 0 o 0 o o 7 /5 13 o o 0 0 0 0 o 0 X 0'0 0 o o o o o o\ @QQQQQQQQQ JOHN W. GATES, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

BOILER-SEAM PROTECTOR.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Dec. 1'7, 1918.

Application filed November 26, 1917. Serial No. 204,035.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. GATES, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of the city of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boiler-Seam Protectors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in protecting devices forthe seams of boilers, which are exposed to flame or hot gases, and the object of the invention is to shield the boiler from direct contact with the flame.

A further object is to provide a device of extremely simple and durable construction, which may be easily and quickly applied either to existing boilers or to new work, and which may be very easily repaired.

It is well known at the present time that boilers, and especially those operated with very hot fires, have a tendency to burn out at the seams, owing not only to the greater thickness of metal caused by lapping the plates but to the presence of rivet heads on the interior of the boiler, which provide lodgment for scale, so that the thickness of material between the furnace and water is further increased. The projecting burs of the rivets also burn away. By proper disposition of the plates, longitudinal seams may be located in places where they are not exposed to intense heat, but there is no way of moving the circumferential seams to less exposed osition.

In or er to overcome this great disadvantage, I provide a protection for the circumferential seams, which consists of a series of tubular arcuate refractory blocks which may be held in place over the circumferential seams by means of a bolt or strap passing through the bore of the blocks, and secured at its ends to a yoke extending across the to of the boiler.

In t e drawings which illustrate the invention:-

Figure lis a cross sectional view of a bricked-in boiler showing the seam protector in position.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a fragment of the protector.

Fig. 3 is a section of one of the protecting blocks" on the line 3-3, Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawlugs, 11 designates a boiler having a circumferential seam 12 and mounted in a brick setting 13. A yoke 14, preferably of flat strap iron is provided extending over the top of the boiler and having its extremities 15 apertured for the passage of a bolt or strap 16, which passes around under the boiler, and is secured at its ends to the yoke by nuts 17. A plurality of blocks 18 of refractory material are provided, each arcuate in its longitudinal direction, so as to fit the curvature of'the boiler. Each block 18 is recessed at one end, as at 19, and provided at the opposite end witha tongue 20 adapted to engage in the end recess of the adjoining block, so that there will be no possibility of flame or hot gases striking through the joints between the blocks to the boiler seam. Each block, as previously stated, is arcuate in its longitudinal direction, and is in addition curved in its transverse direction, as shown in Fig. 3. A bore 21 is provided ex tending longitudinally through the block following the curvature thereof, and a groove 22 is provided on the inner or convex surface for the reception of the rivet burs. One edge 23 of the block may be slightly longer than the other, so as to accommodate the block to the step in the surface of the boiler caused by the lapped plates. It will be understood that while the protector has been shown in the drawings only as adapted for a single riveted seam, it may be made of any suitable size, so as to accommodate seams double riveted or of any arrangement other than that shown.

The application of the device is extremely simple. The yoke 11 is applied over the top of the boiler, and one end of the stra 16 attached thereto. The blocks 18 are threaded on to the strap and pressed down into their proper position. The bore of the blocks is sufficiently larger than the strap to permit the blocks passing readily over a straight side portion of the strap. lVhen the blocks are in place, the free end of the strap is passed through the yoke, and the nuts 17 on both sidestightened up, so as to draw the blocks closely against the boiler. As will be clearly seen in Fig. 3, the blocks cover the double thickness of plate at the seam, and also the rivet burs, so that they are protected from the action of flame and hot gases. If one or more blocks should crack and break away, replacement is readily effected by freeing one end of the strap from the yoke, pressing down the blocks above the break to replace the broken ones,

and adding fresh blocks at the end of the row. While the invention has been shown only as applied to the exterior of a boiler shell, it is obvious that the same idea will apply to the fire-box seams of an internally fired boiler, by suitable modification in the shape of the support.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim is 1. in a device of the class described, a series ofrei'ractory blocks interengaging at their ends and cooperating to cover a bo ler seam, a common supporting means passing through said blocks, and means for adjust-- ing the supporting means to clamp the blocks tightly against the boiler.

2. A protective covering for boiler seams exposed to flame and hot gases, a tubular block of refractory material having a groove adapted toreceive the rivets of a boiler seam, and means passing through the block securing it to the bo ler.

3. In a device of the class described, a tubular block of refractory material having one end thereof recessed, a projection at the opposite end of said block adapted to engage the recess of an adjoining block, a groove in said block for the reception of boiler eam rivets, and means for clamping the block tightly against the boiler.

e. In a device of the class described, a series of interengaging blocks of refractory material adapted to overlie a boiler seam, said blocks being formed deeper at one side than at the other to cooperate with the stepped surface caused by the lapping plates at the boiler seam, and means for securing said block tightly against the boiler.

5. A protective covering for boiler seams exposed to flame and hotgases, comprising a series of refractory blocks adapt-ed to cover a boiler seam, and having a bore extending longitudinally through the blocks, a common supporting means on which the blocks are threaded arranged to hold the blocks against the boiler, and means for ad usting the supporting means to clamp the blocks tightly in position.

in Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN W. earns.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents,

Washington, 3 G. 

